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ADDRESSES 



PRESENTATION OF THE SWORD 



GEN. ANDREW JACKSON 



CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



DELIVERED 



IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



FEBRUAEY 26, 1855. 



U.S. 33a Grw^., id 5ji^. i?>r^ > l<f^''-^ 



WASHINGTON : 

PRINTED BY BEVERLEY TUCKER. 
1855. 









IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Tuesday, February 27, 1855. 

Resolved. That there be printed, for the use of the Senate, twenty thoueand 
copies of the proceedings and remarks upon the presentation of the sword of 
General Jackson ; and that the same be bound in such style as the Committee 
on Printing shall direct. 

Attest: ASBURY UICKINS, Secretary. 



PRESENTATION 



SWOKD OF GENERAL JACKSON, 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Monday, February 26, 1855. 

Mr. Shields, of Illinois, rose and said: 

Mr. President: The hour has arrived which has been 
designated for a very interesting ceremony. It is one 
in which ladies take as deep an interest as gentlemen, 
but the crowded state of the galleries excludes many 
of them from the Chamber. A motion to suspend the 
rule which limits admissions to the floor, so that those 
who are now excluded may be permitted to be present, 
I think will meet with general acceptance ; and, there- 
fore, I submit that motion. 

The motion was agreed to ; and many ladies were admitted 
to seats without the bar. 

Mr. Cass, of Michigan, then addressed the Senate as 
follows: 

Mr. President: I must ask the indul2:ence of the 
Senate for requesting that its usual business may be 
suspended, in order to give me an opportunity to dis- 
charge a trmst which has been committed to me — a 



trust I had not the heart to decline, but which I knew I 
had not the power to fulfil, as such a mission should be 
fulfilled. I hold in my hand the sword of General 
Jackson, which he wore in all his expeditions while in 
the military service of the comitry, and which was his 
faithful companion in his last and crowning victory, 
when New Orleans was saved from the grasp of a 
rapacious and powerful enemy, and our nation from the 
disgrace and disaster which defeat would have brought 
in its train. When the hand of death was upon him, 
General Jackson presented this sword to his friend, the 
late General Armstrong, as a testimonial of his high 
appreciation of the services, worth, and courage of that 
most estimable citizen and distinguished soldier, whose 
desperate valor on one occasion stayed the tide of In- 
dian success and saved the army from destruction. The 
family of the lamented depositary, now that death has 
released him from the guardianship of this treasure of 
patriotism, are desirous it should be surrendered to the 
custody of the national legislature, believing that to be 
the proper disposition of a memorial which, in all time 
to come, will be a cherished one for the American peo- 
ple. To carry that purpose into effect I now offer it 
in their name to Congress. 

Mr. President, this is no doubtful relic, whose iden- 
tity depends upon uncertain tradition, and which owes 
its interest to an impulsive imagination. Its authen- 
ticity is established beyond controversy by the papers 



which accompany it; and it derives its value as well 
from our knowledge of its history, as from its associa- 
tion with the great captain, whose days of toil and 
nights of trouble it shared and witnessed, and who 
never drew it from its scabbard but to defend the honor 
and the interests of his country. 

This is neither the time nor the place to portray those 
great traits of character which gave to General Jack- 
son the ascendency that no man ever denied, who 
approached him, and that wonderful influence with his 
countrymen which marked almost his whole course, 
from his entrance upon a public career till the grave 
closed upon his life and his labors, and left him to that 
equality which the mighty and the lowly must find at 
last. Still, from my personal and ofl&cial relations with 
him — and I trust I may add from his friendship towards 
me, of which I had many proofs — I cannot withhold the 
acknowledgment of the impression which his high qual- 
ities made upon me, and which becomes more lasting 
and profound, as time is doing its work of separation 
from the days of my intercourse with him. 

I have been no careless observer of the men of my 
time, who, controlled by events, or controlling them, 
have stood prominent among them, and will occupy 
distinguished positions in the annals of the age ; and 
circumstances have extended my opportunities of exam- 
ination to the Old World, as well as to the New. But 
I say, and with a deep conviction of its truth, that I 



have never been brought into contact with a man who 
possessed more native sagacity, more profundity of in- 
tellect, higher powers of observation or greater probity 
of purpose, more ardor of patriotism, nor more firm- 
ness of resolution, after he had surveyed his position 
and occupied it, than the lamented subject of this fee- 
])le tribute, not to him, but to truth. And I will add, 
that, during the process of determination upon import- 
ant subjects, he was sometimes slow, and generally 
cautious and inquiring, and, he has more than once told 
me, anxious and uneasy, not seldom passing the night 
without sleep ; but he was calm in his mind, and inflexi- 
ble in his will, when reflection had given place to de- 
cision. The prevailing opinion that he was rash and 
hasty in his conclusions is founded upon an erroneous 
impression of his habits of thought and action ; upon a 
v/ant of discrimination between his conduct before and 
after his judgment had pronounced upon his course. 

This is not the first ofi'ering of a similar nature, which 
has been laid upon the altar of our country with the 
sanction of the legislative department of the govern- 
ment. Some years since, another precious relic was 
deposited here — the sword of him, who, in life, was first 
in the affections of his countrymen, and in death is now 
the first in their memory. I need not name his name. 
It is written in characters of living light on every heart, 
and springs instinctively to every tongue. His feme is 
committed to time, his example to manldnd, and him- 



self, we may humbly hope, to the reward of the right- 
eous. When centuries shall have passed over us, 
bringing with them the mutations that belong to the 
lapse of ages, and our country shall yet be fulfilling, 
or shall have fulfilled, her magnificent destiny — for 
good, I devoutly hope, and not for evil — pilgrims from 
our ocean coasts and our inland seas, and from the vast 
regions which now separate, but before long by our 
wonderful progress must unite them, will come up to 
the high places of our land, consecrated by days and 
deeds of world-wide renown ; and, turning aside to the 
humble tomb, dearer than this proud Capitol, they will 
meditate upon the eventful history of their country, 
and will recall the example while they bless the name 
of Washington. 

And, on the same occasion, was presented the cane 
of Franklin, which was deposited in our national 
archives with the sword of his friend and co-laborer in 
the great cause of human rights. Truly and beauti- 
fully has it been said, that peace hath its victories as 
well as war. And never was nobler conquest won than 
that achieved by the American apprentice, printer, 
author, statesman, ambassador, philosopher, and, better 
than all, model of common sense, over one of the most 
powerful elements in the economy of nature, subduing 
its might to his own, and thus enabling man to answer 
the sublime interrogatory addressed to Job, "Cans't 
thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto 



8 

thee, Here we are?" Yes; they now come at our com- 
mand, and say, Here we are, ready to do your work. 
And it was our illustrious countryman who first opened 
the way for this subjugation of the fire of heaven to 
the human will. The staff that guided the steps of 
Franklin, and the sword that guarded the person of 
Washington, may well occupy the same repository, 
under the care of the nation they served and loved and 
honored. 

And now another legacy of departed greatness, 
another weapon from the armory of patriotism, comes 
to claim its place in the sanctuary assigned to its pre- 
decessor, and to share with it the veneration of the 
country, in whose defence it was wielded. 

The memorial of the first and greatest of our Chief 
Magistrates, and this memorial of his successor in the 
administration of the government, and second only to 
him in the gratitude and affections of the American 
people, will lie side by side, united tokens of patriotic 
self-devotion and of successful military prowess, though 
they who bore them and gave them value by their ser- 
vices are now tenants of distant and lowly graves, sepa- 
rated by mountains, and rivers, and valleys. And in ages 
shut out from our vision by the far away future, when re- 
mote generations, heirs of our heritage of freedom, but 
succeeding to it without the labor and the privations 
of acquisition, shall gaze (as they will gaze) upon these 
testimonials of victories, time-worn but time-honored, 



they will be carried back by association to those heroes 
of early story, and will find their love of country 
strengthened, and their pride in her institutions and 
their confidence in her fate and fortunes increased, by 
this powerful faculty of the mind — a faculty which en- 
ables us to triumph over the distant and the future, as 
well as over the stern realities of the present, gathering 
around us the mighty dead and the mighty deeds that ex- 
cite the admiration of mankind, and will ever command 
their respect and gratitude. And thus will communion 
be held with the great leaders of our country, in war 
and in peace, who wore these swords in their service, 
and hallowed them by their patriotism, their valor, and 
success, 

I will now read to the Senate two letters connected 
with the circumstance of this presentation — one from 
Mr. Nicholson, and the other from Mr. Yaulx, the son- 
in-law of the late General Armstrong : 

Letttr from Joseph Vaulx, 

Nashville, February 7, 1855. 
Dear Sir: Doctor W. S. McNairy left here a few days ago 
for Washington, having in charge the sword that General 
Jackson before his death gave to General Armstrong. The 
Doctor was requested by William M. Armstrong (in whose 
keeping it had been left by his father) to hand it over to 
you on his arrival in Washington. You, I believe, were 
present at the time General Armstrong had the honor of 



10 

having it presented to him by his distinguished friend. It 
is the sword worn by General Jackson in his various cam- 
paigns and during the whole time he remained in the mili- 
tary service of his country. It is, therefore, justly regarded 
as a relic of great value. It was General Armstrong's wish 
that it should be placed at the disposal of Congress, or the 
government, with a view to its being deposited in a suitable 
place, where, doubtless, millions of General Jackson's ad- 
miring countrymen will in time to come gladly look on it 
as the war-sword of one whose brilliant services in the cause 
of his country place his name in bold relief on the historic 
page of our beloved country. 

No person, I believe, would have been preferred to your- 
self by General Armstrong as the medium for presenting the 
sword to Congress, or the government ; which, at the request 
of his son, you will please do in such terms as you may deem 
proper. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JOSEPH YAULX, 

Hon. A. 0. P. Nicholson. 



Letter from A. 0. F, Nicliolson, 

Washington, Fehruarij 13, 1855. 
Dear Sir: A short time before the death of General Jack- 
son, I received a note from him inviting me to visit him for 
a special purpose. I did so, and found that, amongst other 
things, he desired to put into my hands the sword which he 
had used at the battle of New Orleans, for the purpose of 
delivering it to the late General Pvobert Armstrong, as a 



11 

testimonial of warm personal friendship; and as an evidence 
of his high appreciation of his military services and his 
patriotic devotion to the honor of his country. I delivered 
the sword as requested, and it was kept hy Greneral Arm- 
strong during his life. Since his death, his family have con- 
cluded that tlie most jiroper disposition they could make of 
it would bo to present it to Congress, to be kept as a per- 
petual memento of the brilliant achievement with which it 
is connected. For this purpose the sword has been forwarded 
to me with the request that I would present it to Congress 
in the name of General Armstrong's family. It has occurred 
to me that I could not more appropriately discharge this 
trust than to j^lace the sword in your hands, and to ask that 
you will present it in such way as you may deem most pro- 
per. The known relations, in public and private, between 
General Jackson and yourself, as well as your constant friend- 
ship for General Armstrong, seem to me to render it emi- 
nently fit that the presentation should be made by you. I 
therefore place the sword at your disposal, and respectfully 
request that you would undertake to carry out the wishes of 
the donors. 

I am, very respectfully, your friend, 

A. 0. P. NICHOLSON. 
Gen. Lewis Cass. 



Mr. Bell, of Tennessee: 

Mr. President : I am fully aware that, in undertakirig 
to accompany the ofFer of the resolution which I pro- 
pose to send to the Chair with any remarks upon the 



12 

public services and character of tlie illustrious man 
whose name and whose memory have been so elo- 
quently and appropriately brought to our notice by 
the distinguished Senator from Michigan, I assume an 
office of great delicacy, and one which I, especially, 
may well have some distrust of my ability to perform 
in a proper and satisfactory manner ; yet, as the senior 
representative of the State of Tennessee in the Senate, 
I do not feel at liberty to decline it. 

In what I propose to say, I must tread with caution 
and reserve, or not at all, upon grounds on which the 
fires of political controversy raged with such fierceness 
at a period so recent that the embers yet smoulder, and 
may not prudently be disturbed. 

In the great drama of affairs now being enacted on 
this continent, the opening act of which was the Revo, 
lution — the closing scenes, I trust, will be in the far, 
far future — Andrew Jackson was, in his day, a great 
and successful actor. Whatever difference of opinion 
may have existed among his contemporaries of the 
merit of some parts of his performance, yet, as a whole, 
it received the plaudits of his countrymen, and a large 
proportion of them pronounced it masterly throughout. 

General Jackson possessed rare endowments, and 
was, indeed, one of the most, if not the most remark- 
able man of the age in which he lived. With but slight 
and indifferent mental or professional training and dis- 
cipline in early life, so generally regarded as important, 



13 

if not essential, to eminent success in either of the two 
great departments of human effort — the civil and the 
military — yet, at the very outset of his military career, 
he exhibited talents for command of a high order, and 
in less than three years, by his brilliant achievements, 
established his reputation as the first military chief of 
the country. But this is not all. Retiring from the 
army when there appeared to be no further demand 
for active service, he was in a few years thereafter ele- 
vated to the highest civil station under the national 
government; and for eight successive years he wielded 
the power and influence of his position, as Executive 
Chief, with such vigor and address, that he was sus- 
tained in, and succeeded in carrying out, all the great 
measures of his administration — some of them present- 
ing questions of the gravest nature, and giving rise to 
the most intense excitement — and this, too, in the face 
of an opposition combining an amount of ability, elo- 
quence, skill, and experience in affairs, in both houses 
of Congress, but more especially in the Senate, greater 
than was ever witnessed before or since. The jars and 
contentions between those great moral elements were, 
sometimes, such as shook the whole country. 

A man who, having addicted his early manhood 
mainly to the pursuits of private life, without any ap- 
preciable culture or experience in public affairs, could 
thus, when there arose a public exigency of sufficient 
urgency to induce him to enter the public service, ^er 



14 

saltum, as it were, raise himself to tlie first rank as a 
military leader, and then, for so long a period, as Chief 
Magistrate of a great and free country, thus direct and 
control its civil administration, must be allowed to have 
possessed great capacity. 

His was no negative or unmarked career — no meteor- 
like appearance upon the great theatre of affairs, to 
blaze and dazzle lor a moment, and then pass away 
forever ; but, both as a military commander and a civil 
chief, he left his impress upon his country and its in- 
stitutions deep, striking, and indelible. 

It would be idle to assume, as some have done, 
that General Jackson was indebted alone, or chiefly, to 
fortune and adventitious circumstances for his extraor- 
dinary success. He was such a man, Mr, President, as 
when he had once attained position, had the faculty of 
creating the circumstances, if he needed them, neces- 
sary to further and continued successes. Posterity will 
inquire, with eager curiosity, the secret of his amazing 
success — the distinctive traits of mind and of personal 
character by which he achieved it; some of which they 
will probably seek in vain in the pages of contemporary 
history. 

General Jackson had what may be called an intuitive 
perception of the passions and interests by which the 
mass of mankind are controlled. He was a shrewd 
observer of individual character, and he was seldom 
mistaken in his estimate of the men with whom he 



15 

associated as friends or came in contact with as oppo- 
nents. He was devoted to his friends; and the more 
others opposed or denounced them, the more deter- 
mined he became to sustain them, and never cast therj. 
off until they arrayed themselves in open opposition to 
his plans and wishes. Nor was he deficient in courtesy 
to opponents — not personal enemies — and could even 
court them when he desired or needed their support, 
but never by fawning or unmanly appeals. 

His self-reliance was wonderful. He never despaired 
of his fortune. As the obstacles to the success of any 
favorite scheme of policy multiplied, and the storm of 
opposition was wildest, it was then that one of his most 
striking traits was exhibited. He became the soul, the 
animating principle, of his followers; revived their faint- 
ing courage, re-inspired their confidence in his infalli- 
bility, and cheered them on to renewed and more 
vigorous efforts. 

When the emergency required it, no man was more 
prompt in coming to a decision. When the question 
presented difficulties, and admitted of deliberation, he 
counselled with his friends. When his own conviction 
was clear, he seldom deferred to the views of others ; 
and when he once decided upon his course, he was 
inflexible and immovable. He was, emphatically and 
truly, a man of stern resolve and iron will ; and, when 
opposition to the accomplishment of his purposes ap- 
peared formidable and discouraging, he was apt to 



16 

become impatient of the restraints and trammels of 
official and customary routine. He had the courage, 
both moral and physical, to dare and to do whatever 
he thought proper and necessary to the successful issue 
of whatever he had resolved upon. He was withal a 
patriot, devoted to the honor, dignity, and glory of his 
countr}'- ; and he had the faculty of persuading himself 
that whatever measure or course of policy, either in 
peace or in war, he resolved upon, and strongly desired 
to accomplish, was proper and necessary to the public 
welfare. 

No man since the days of Washington was more de- 
voted to the union of these States, or would have more 
cheerfully laid down his life to defend and uphold it, 
than Andrew Jackson. 

Many have supposed that General Jackson was often 
controlled by passion and resentment, and that he some- 
times embraced measures and engaged in enterprises 
without any calculation of the chances of success or 
defeat, and reckless of both. There never was a greater 
mistake. This was the error into which the great op- 
ponents of his measures and policy in the Senate fell ; 
and the event showed that he had estimated the ele- 
ments of his power and the true sources of his strength 
with greater sagacity than themselves. 

When General Jackson made his first essay in the art 
of war, and led the Tennessee volunteers against a wily 
foe, formidable from their numbers and mode of war- 



^ 



17 

fare, many careless observers of his early career had 
their misgivings that a rash valor and his eager desire 
to distinguish himself in arms might result in disaster 
and the unnecessary sacrifice of his men ; but they were 
soon undeceived. Those who knew him best, and knew 
him well, never had any distrust of his discretion as a 
military commander. 

But his qualities as a general, and his powers of com- 
bination in conducting the operations of an army, were 
best illustrated and put to the severest test in the cam- 
paign of 1814-15 in the South. It was then that ample 
scope was given him for the exercise of his genius and 
capacity for military command. 

In 1814 Great Britain, by the overthrow of the 
French Emperor, found herself in a condition to em- 
ploy the whole of her great naval and military resources 
in an effort to humble or to crush the United States. 
The first blow fell upon the shores of the Chesapeake. 
The seat of the national government fell into the hands 
of the enemy, and the blackened walls of the Capitol 
gave warning of the ruthless spirit with which the war 
was thenceforth to be conducted. This wound to the 
national pride was inflicted at a time when the public 
finances and the public credit were at the lowest ebb. 
The recruiting service went on sluggishly, and gave 
no promise of an adequate increase of the regular army ; 
and the whole of our extended and almost defenceless 

seacoast was exposed to the attacks of the enemy, 
2 



18 

Rumors soon after reached the country that a still more 
formidable armament was to make a descent upon our 
shores ; but where the storm would burst, there was no 
clue to determine. Afterwards a general gloom, not 
without some admixture of despondency, then hung 
over the country. 

At a later date it became manifest that the Gulf coast 
was to be the scene of operations. Every day the 
gathering clouds of war in that quarter became darker 
and more portentous. Still, it was uncertain upon what 
particular point the bolt would fall; but wherever it 
might fall on that coast, it was certain that it would be 
in the military department, the protection and defence 
of which was assigned to General Jackson. All eyes 
and hopes were now turned upon him. He had already 
exhibited such uncommon energy, skill, and intrepidity, 
in his conduct of the war against the Creek Indians, as 
to inspire some confidence, when there seemed to be 
scarcely ground for hope. It was known that he had 
no army in the field, save two or three regiments of 
regulars, and a single regiment of mounted Tennessee 
volunteers, and that there were no adequate supplies, 
either of provisions or munitions of war, at any point 
in his command for conducting military operations upon 
a large scale ; but never was confidence so well repaid. 
His energy and discretion, and the confidence he in- 
spired, supplied every deficiency. 

When it became evident that New Orleans was to be 



19 

the point of attack, and that the hostile armament had 
made its appearance off the Gulf coast, he called upon 
the authorities of Kentucky and Tennessee to send for- 
ward their contingents of militia and volunteers with 
all despatch, as the enemy was approaching. Upon the 
States threatened with invasion he urged the employ- 
ment of all their energies and resources to be in readi- 
ness to meet the foe. He called, in strains of inspiring 
eloquence, upon the free colored inhabitants of Louisi- 
ana to protect their native soil from invasion and pol- 
lution by a foreign foe. He offered pardon and invoked 
the very pirates who infested the neighboring coast to 
the rescue. 

By these energetic steps. General Jackson found as- 
sembled around him a force of five thousand men, of 
all arms — all, save two regiments of the regular army, 
being volunteers and militia-men — and with this hastily- 
assembled army, on the 8th of January, he met, and, in 
a sanguinary battle, overcame more than double their 
number of veteran troops, led by experienced generals, 
flushed with recent victory on the battle-fields of Eu- 
rope, and closed the war in a blaze of glory. 

Mr. President, the sword worn by the victor on that 
day, the man of stern resolve and iron will, when gazed 
upon in unborn ages, will send a thrill through the 
heart of every true American. 

I ask the unanimous consent of the Senate to intro- 
duce "a joint resolution accepting the sword of General 



20 

Andrew Jackson, and returning the thanks of Congress 
to the family of the late General Robert Armstrong." 

Unanimoas consent was given^ and the joint resolution 
was read twice, and considered as in Committee of the 
Whole. It is as follows: 

Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of Ame7nca in Congress assembled, That 
the thanks of this Congress he presented to the family of the 
late General Rohert Armstrong for the present of the sword 
worn hy General Andrew Jackson while in the military 
service of his country ; and that this precious relic be hereby 
accepted in the name of the nation, and be deposited, for 
safe-keeping, in the Department of State ; and that a copy 
of this resolution be transmitted to the family of the late 
General Robert Armstrong. 

The joint resolution was reported to the Senate without 
amendment_, and ordered to be engrossed for a third reading. 
It was read the third time, and passed. 

Mr. GwiN submitted the following ; which was considered 
by unanimous consent, and agreed to : 

Ordered, That the addresses of Mr. Cass and Mr. Bell be 
entered on the journal ; that the resolution and the sword 
be taken to the House of Representatives by the Secretary, 
with a request that the House will concur in the said resolu- 
tion. 



21 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
Monday, February 26, 1855. 

A message was received from the Senate, by Asbury 
DiCKiNS, esq., their Secretary, notifying the House that that 
body had passed a resolution accepting the sword of General 
Andrew Jackson, and returning the thanks of Congress to 
the family of General Eobert Armstrong therefor. 

Mr. Smith, of Tennessee : 

I ask that the House do now proceed to the consider- 
ation of the resolution just brought to us from the 
Senate. 

Mr. Stanton, of Kentucky: 

As the ceremony of presentation is to be an inte- 
resting one, and there are a great many ladies who 
desire to be present, and are unable to get in the gal- 
leries, I move that the rules be suspended, and that the 
ladies be admitted upon the floor on the occasion. 

The motion was agreed to; the doors were thrown open, 
and a large number of ladies were admitted. 
The joint resolution was read as follows: 

A RESOLUTION to accept the sword of General Andrew Jackson, and return- 
ing the thanks of Congress to the family of the late General Robert Arm- 
strong. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress be presented 
to the family of the late General Robert Armstrong for the 
present of the sword worn by General Andrew Jackson 
while in the service of his country, and that this precious 



22 

relic be hereby accepted in the name of tbe nation, and be 
deposited for safe-keeping in the Department of State, and 
that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of 
the late General Kobert Armstrong. 

Mr. SivnTH, of Tennessee, rose and addressed the House as 
follows : 

Mr. Speaker: In asking the consideration of the 
resolution just read, justice to the occasion requires 
a few remarks from me, and I only regret that this 
responsibility had not devolved upon some one more 
capable than myself of performing so important a duty. 

In all ages and in all countries it has been customary 
to commemorate the deeds of illustrious men. Paint- 
ing, poetry, and sculpture have been brought into 
requisition to perpetuate the memory of their achieve- 
ments, and to keep alive in the hearts of the young, ven- 
eration for their ancestors and pride of country. 

Every Capitol in Christendom is adorned with monu- 
ments erected to the brave and wise who have, by 
counsel or deeds, given direction to the policy or illus- 
trated the pages of their country's history. Their mu- 
seums are filled with relics, which, from their intimate 
personal association with the gallant dead, ever keep 
vividly before the mind their public acts and private 
virtues. These teach lessons as impressive as towering 
monuments or glowing canvas. 

Brief as our existence has been, the history of no 
nation on earth has been so fruitful of stirring incidents — 



23 

incidents whicli have had an influence not only upon 
our own land, but upon the civilized world. The 
painter's art has adorned the walls of our Capitol with 
representations of some of the most important of these 
events. Here we have the first grand scene of our 
Revolution, the Declaration of Independence^ upon which 
no American can look without experiencing feelings of 
the most ennobling character. The very features are 
preserved of the statesmen who proclaimed doctrines 
which startled the world from its long lethargic sleep, 
revived again the spirit of Sydney and of Hampden, and 
gave the first just conception of the true dignity and 
capacity of man. Their voices are all hushed in death; 
but the echo of the appeal of 1776 still lives, and is 
reverberating throughout the earth, making strong the 
arms and hearts of those who for their rights and liber- 
ties would proudly welcome death and the grave. 

With what glowing pride do we look upon the battle- 
scenes here portrayed! — battles fought, not to further 
the schemes of ambition, but in defence of freedom and 
universal humanity. No enslaved people have bewailed 
the triumphs of our warriors, but the whole earth has 
arisen and pronounced them blessed. 

The battles and victories which the artist has here 
celebrated were still fresh and green in the memory of 
the people, when the nation was again called to arms 
to vindicate its honor and the rights of man. Many of 
the leading spirits of the Revolution still lived. Upon 



24 

some the palsying hand of time had been heavily laid ; 
but in their hearts the love of country and the fires of 
patriotism still brightly burned. They urged the young 
to the conflict. Tho 7oice of Jefferson rang through the 
land, cheering the brave, nerving the arms of the timid, 
and giving hope and courage to the hearts of all. The 
warriors of the Revolution who still retained their vigor 
buckled on their armor for the conflict. Conspicuous 
among these were Van Rensselaer of New York, Smith 
of Maryland, and Jackson of Tennessee. Our country- 
men, under the lead of their gallant commanders, tri- 
umphed upon the land and upon the sea, and estab- 
lished forever our rank among the nations of the earth. 
The actors in these scenes are fast passing away. But 
few of the gallant leaders in this glorious war still sur- 
vive ; and they are verging upon their three score and 
ten, and must soon be gathered to their fathers. Duty, 
gratitude, and patriotism should prompt us to collect 
trophies of their victories, and garner up memorials 
which will speak to future generations of their great- 
ness and patriotism, and which will keep the memory 
of their deeds of noble daring alive forever in the heart 
of the nation. 

Not long before the death of -that distinguished chief- 
tain, Andrew Jackson, he placed the sword he had 
worn in all of his battles in the war of 1812 in the 
hands of a friend to be delivered to his compatriot in 
arms, the late General Robert Armstrong, who had in 



25 

an eminent degree commanded Ms respect and enjoyed 
his confidence. These two lamented patriots had shared 
together the hardships of the camp and the dangers of 
the battle-field; and the bestowal of this relic by the 
illustrious hero was a fit testimonial of his apprecia- 
tion of one whose courage he had seen tested on many 
a bloody field, and whose patriotism had often elicited 
\he warmest gratitude and highest applause of his 
countrymen. 

It was at the battle of Enotochopco where the little 
army commanded by Jackson was almost surrounded 
by the enemy, and in the heat of the conflict General 
Armstrong was severely wounded. But he did not de- 
sert his post, and when unable longer to wield a sword 
or stand upon his feet, he clung to a small tree which 
stood near him, and cried: "My brave fellows, some 
may fall, but save the cannon." Such bravery elicited 
the thanks and gratitude of his commander, and made 
him the worthy recipient of the favorite weapon worn 
by him on that trying occasion. 

The family of General Armstrong, actuated by the 
patriotic impulses which ever characterized their sire, 
have placed this sword at the disposal of Congress. It 
seems to me eminently fit that it should become the 
property of the government, and be placed among the 
trophies of our victories and the mementoes of our 
heroes ; for it is associated with the names of two of 
the " bravest of the brave," and with battles the history 



26 

of which will fill the brightest pages in our country's 
annals. 

In moving the adoption of the resolution on your 
table accepting the sword, I do not feel called upon to 
pronounce a eulogy upon General Jackson. He needs 
it not. " God blessed him with length of days, and he 
filled them with deeds of glory," which have entered 
into the history of the nation, and become the heritage 
of his countrymen. 

Mr. ZoLLicoFFERj of Tennessee : 

Mr. Speaker : It being my fortune to represent the 
Hermitage district — where that great man lived, and 
where his remains are entombed — the House will par- 
don me for briefly giving utterance to emotions which 
fill me on this peculiar occasion. The martial renown 
of Andrew Jackson has become national property. 
But it must be allowed to Tennesseans to feel more than 
•an ordinary interest in that renown, and in this occasion. 
The brave-hearted, the world over, I apprehend, pay 
to his heroic spirit their true homage ; and I can well 
imagine that even the boldest, when treading the paths 
of danger, walk more erect and confident under the 
broad sun-light of his chivalrous history; yet to those 
who were his neighbors when he tenanted the Hermit- 
age, and who inhabit the mountains and the valleys 
which sent forth the gallant men who followed and 
upheld his standard in all his victories — men who saw 
this very sword unsheathed on all his brilliant and 



27 

perilous battle-fields — I saj, sir, to such a people, some- 
ihing more than this feeling is but a common impulse 
of that human nature which we all readily comprehend. 
The sons of those gallant men are the present young 
men of Tennessee. As these young men catch a glimpse 
of this shining blade, passing into the depository of the 
nation's precious relics, how can it be otherwise than 
that their hearts will throb with quickened pulsations of 
patriotic State and national pride ? Rest assured, sir, 
that they feel, and must ever feel, a lofty and commenda- 
ble State pride in the military renown and unquestioned 
personal heroism of Andrew Jackson. I hesitate not 
to say, sir, that this feeling has contributed in no small 
degree to the full development of that chivalric senti- 
ment which has ever characterized the volunteer troops 
of Tennessee when their country has demanded their 
services in the field. 

Allow me to say, sir, that I, for near twenty years, 
have held a position of antagonism, more or less, to 
those who have claimed to be the especial political 
friends of General Jackson, and in that State our 
contests have been sharp, animated, and continuous, 
through that long period. I mention this merely by 
way of suggesting that the sentiments to which I have 
given utterance are expressed with the more freedom 
from all undue partiality or bias. They are sentiments 
such as I feel that no native Tennesseau, and I trust 
no citizen of any other State in our glorious confederacy, 



28 

can fail cordially and heartily to respond to. Tliey 
should be held in common by the whole American 
people; for this very sword, sir, gleamed over that 
memorable battle-field of which every citizen of the 
Union is so justly proud, and which has unquestionably 
given a more world-wide fame to American prowess 
than any other single battle-field which has ever 
emblazoned the bright annals of American warfare. 
Let the sword, sir, be preserved, and transmitted care- 
fully to posterity. Let it be deposited along with the 
sword and camp-chest of Washington, and the staff" and 
printing-press of Franklin, among the most precious 
relics of a grateful country, preserved and cared for as 
high incentives to the honorable ambition of American 
youth, as long as liberty shall have a home, or the 
Union of these States an existence among the nations 
of the earth. 

But, sir, I will here pause. I will not dwell upon a 
theme which has already been enlarged upon by others 
with so much more ability than I possess. I will tres- 
pass upon the valuable time of the House only for a 
moment longer. I cannot, in justice to my own feelings, 
withhold a brief allusion to General Robert Armstrong, 
from whose family this present is received. He was 
my neighbor and personal friend. The confidence 
which General Jackson, who knew him so long and so 
well, reposed in the sterling qualities of his heart and 
head, is itself a sufficient eulogy, requiring no aid from 



29 

anything I can offer. I must, however, say that I held 
him to be one of the bravest, most magnanimous, and 
most truly kind-hearted men it was ever my good 
fortune personally to know. 

In conclusion, I need hardly add that I take it for 
granted the resolution will be sanctioned, not only 
unanimously, but with the most cheerful alacrity, by 
every American representative. 

Mr. Benton, of Missouri: 

]\Ir. Speaker : The manner in which this sword has 
been used for the honor and benefit of the country is 
known to the world ; the manner in which the privilege 
was obtained of so using it is but little known, even 
to the living age, and must be lost to posterity unless 
preserved by contemporaneous history. At the same 
time it is well worth knowing, in order to show what 
difficulties talent may have to contend with, what mis- 
takes governments may commit, and upon what chances 
and accidents it may depend that the greatest talent 
and the purest patriotism may be able to get into the 
service of its country. There is a moral in such 
history which it may be instructive to governments 
and to people to learn. When a warrior or a statesman 
is seen, in the midst of his career and the fullness of 
his glory, showing himself to be in his natural place, 
people overlook his previous steps and suppose he had 
been called by a general voice, by wise councils, to the 
fulfilment of a natural destiny. In a few instances it 



30 

is so ; in tlie greater part, not. In the greater part 
there is a toilsome, uncertain, discouraging, and morti- 
fying progress to be gone through before the future 
resplendent man is able to get on the theatre which is 
to give him the use of his talent. So it was with 
Jackson. He had his difficulties to surmount, and sur- 
mounted them. He conquered savage tribes and the 
conquerors of the conquerors of Europe ; but he had 
to conquer his own government first, and did it, and 
that was for him the most difficult of the two ; for, 
while his military victories were the regular result of a 
genius for war and brave troops to execute his plans, 
enabling him to command success, his civil victory over 
his own government was the result of chances and 
accidents, and the contrivances of others, in which he 
could have but little hand and no control. I proceed 
to give some view of this inside and preliminary history, 
and have some qualifications for the task, having taken 
some part, though not great, in all that I relate. 

Retired from the United States Senate, of which he 
had been a member, and from the supreme j udicial 
bench of his State, on which he had sat as judge, this 
future warrior and President — and alike illustrious in 
both characters — was living upon his farm on the banks 
of the Cumberland, when the war of 1812 broke out. 
He was a major general in the Tennessee militia — the 
only place he would continue to hold, and to which he 
had been elected by the contingency of one vote, so 



31 

close was tlie cliance for a miss in this first step. His 
friends believed tliat he had military genius, and pro- 
posed him for the brigadier's appointment which was 
allotted to the West. That appointment was given to 
another, and Jackson remained unnoticed on his farm. 
Soon another appointment of general was allotted to 
the West. Jackson was proposed again; and was 
again left to attend to his farm. Then a batch of gen- 
erals, as they were called, was authorized by law — six 
at a time, and from all parts of the Union ; and then his 
friends believed that surely his time had come. Not 
so the fact. The six appointments went elsewhere, and 
the hero patriot, who was born to lead armies to vic- 
tory, was still left to the care of his fields, while incom- 
petent men were leading our troops to defeat, to 
captivity, to slaughter; for that is the way the war 
opened. The door to military service seemed to be 
closed and barred against him; and was so, so far as 
the government was concerned. 

It may be wondered why this repugnance to the 
appointment of Jackson, who, though not yet greatly 
distinguished, was still a man of mark — had been a 
Senator and a Supreme judge, and was still a major 
general, and a man of tried and heroic courage. I can 
tell the reason. He had a great many home enemies, 
for he was a man of decided temper; had a great many 
contests, no compromises; always went for a clean 
victory or a clean defeat, though placable after the 



82 

contest was over. That was one reason, but not the 
main one. The administration had a prejudice against 
him on account of Colonel Burr, with whom he had 
been associated in the American Senate, and to whom 
he gave a hospitable reception in his house at the time 
of his Western expedition, relying upon his assurance 
that his designs were against the Spanish dominion in 
Mexico, and not against the integrity of this Union. 
These were some of the causes, not all, of Jackson's 
rejection from Federal military employment. 

I was young then, and one of his aids, and believed in 
his military talent and patriotism ; was greatly attached 
to him, and was grieved and vexed to see him passed 
by when so much incompetence was preferred. Besides, 
I was to go with him, and his appointment would be 
partly my own. I was vexed, as were all his friends; 
but I did not despair, as most of them did. I turned 
from the government to ourselves, to our own resources, 
and looked to the chapter of accidents to turn up a 
chance for incidental employment, confident that he 
would do the rest for himself if he could only get a 
start. I was in this mood in my office, a young lawyer, 
with more books than briefs, when the tardy mail of 
that time, one "raw and gusty day" in February, 1812, 
brought an act of Congress authorizing the President 
to accept organized bodies of volunteers to the extent 
of fifty thousand, to serve for one year, and to be called 
into service when somfe emergency should require it. 



aa 

Here was a chance. I knew that Jackson could raise 

a general's command, and I trusted to events for him to 
be called out, and felt that one year was more than 
enough for him to prove himself I drew up a plan, 
rode thirty miles to his house that same raw day in 
February — rain, hail, sleet, wind — and such roads as we 
then had there in winter, deep in rich mud and mixed 
with ice. I arrived at the Hermitage — a name then but 
little known — at nightfall, and found him solitary, and 
almost alone, but not quite; for it was the evening, 
mentioned in the "Thirty Years' View," when I found 
him with the lamb and the child between his knees. I 
laid the plan before him. He was struck with it — 
adopted it — acted upon it. We began to raise volun- 
teer companies. Whilst this was going on, an order ar- 
rived from the War Department to the Governor (Willie 
Blount) to detach fifteen hundred militia to the Lower 
Mississippi; the object to meet the British, then expected 
to make an attempt on New Orleans. The Governor 
was a friend to Jackson and to his country. He agreed 
to accept his three thousand volunteers instead of the 
fifteen hundred draughted militia. The General issued 
an address to his division. I galloped to the muster- 
grounds, and harangued the young men. The success 
was ample. Three regiments were completed — Coffee, 
William Hall, Benton, the colonels — and in December, 
1812, we descended the Cumberland and the Mississippi 

in a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, and landed at Natchez. 
3 



u 

There we got tlie news that the British would not come 
that winter — a great disappointment, and a fine chance 
lost. 

We remained in camp, six miles from Natchez, 
waiting ulterior orders. In March they came — not 
orders for further service, or even to return home, but 
to disband the volunteers where they were. The com- 
mand was positive, in the name of the President, and 
by the then Secretary at War, General Armstrong. I 
well remember the day — Sunday morning, the 25th 
day of March, 1813. The first I knew of it was a 
message from the General to come to him at his tent; 
for though, as colonel of a regiment, I had ceased to be 
aid, yet my place had not been filled, and I was sent 
for as much as ever. Ke showed me the order, and 
also his character, in his instant determination not to 
obey it, but to lead his volunteers home. He had 
sketched a severe answer to the Secretary, and gave 
it to me to copy and arrange the matter of it. It 
was very severe. I tried hard to get some parts soft- 
ened, but impossible. I have never seen that letter 
since, but would know it if I should meet it in any 
form, anywhere, without names. I concurred with 
the General in the determination to take home our 
young troops. He then called a '■'' counciV of the field- 
officers, as he called it ; though there was but little of 
the council in it, the only object being to hear his de- 
termination and take measures for executing it. The 



35 

officers were unanimous in their determination to sup- 
port liim; but it was one of tliose cases in which he 
would have acted not only without, but against a 
'■'■ counciV^ 

The officers were unanimous and vehement in their 
determination, as much so as the General was himself; 
for the volunteers were composed of the best young 
men of the country — farmers' sons, themselves clever 
young men, since filling high offices in the State and 
the Federal Government — intrusted to these officers by 
their fathers, in full confidence that they would act a 
father's part by them; and the recreant thought of 
turning them loose on the Lower Mississippi, five hun- 
dred miles from home, without the means of getting 
home, and a wilderness and Indian tribes to traverse, 
did not find a moment's thought in any one's bosom. 
To carry them back was the instant and indignant 
determination ; but great difficulties were in the way. 
The cost of getting back three thousand men under 
such circumstances must be great ; and here Jackson's 
character showed itself again. We have all heard of 
his responsibilities — his readiness to assume political 
responsibility when the public service required it. He 
was now equally ready to take responsibility of another 
kind — moneyed responsibility, and that beyond the 
whole extent of his fortune! He had no military 
chest, not a dollar of public money; and three thousand 
men were not to be conducted five hundi'ed miles 



36 

through a wilderness country and Indian tribes without 
a great outlay of money. Wagons were wanted, and 
many of them, for transport of provisions, baggage, 
and the sick — so numerous among new troops. He had 
no money to hire teams ; he impressed ; and at the end 
of the service gave drafts upon the quartermaster 
general of the Southern department (General Wilkin- 
son's) for the amount. The wagons were ten dollars 
a day, coming and going. They were numerous. It 
was a service of two months ; the amount to be incurred 
was great. He incurred it, and, as will be seen, at 
imminent risk of his own ruin. This assumption on 
the General's part met the first great difficulty; but 
there were lesser difficulties, still serious, to be sur- 
mounted. The troops had received no pay; clothes 
and shoes were worn out ; the men were in no condition 
for a march so long, and so exposed. The officers had 
received no pay ; did not expect to need money ; had 
made no provision for the unexpected contingency of 
large demands upon their own pockets to enable them 
to do justice to their men. But there was patriotism 
outside of the camp as well as within. The merchants 
of Natchez put their stores at our disposition ; take 
what we needed ; pay when convenient, at Nashville. 
I will name one among these patriotic merchants — 
name him because he belongs to a class now struck at, 
and because I do not ignore a friend when he is struck. 
Washington Jackson was the one I mean — Irish by 



37 

birth ; American by choice, by law, and feeling, and 
conduct. I took some hundred pairs of shoes from him 
for my regiment, and other articles; and I proclaim 
it here, that patriotic men of foreign birth may see 
that there are plenty of Americans to recognise their 
merit — to name them with honor in high places, and 
to give them the right hand of friendship when they 
are struck at. 

"We all returned, were discharged, dispersed among 
our homes, and the fine chance on which we had so 
much counted was all gone. And now came a blow 
upon Jackson himself, the fruit of the moneyed respon- 
sibility which he had assumed. His transportation 
drafts were all protested ; returned upon him for pay- 
ment, which was impossible, and with directions to bring 
suit. This was the month of May. I was coming on 
to Washington on my own account, and cordially took 
charge of Jackson's case. Suits were delayed until the 
result of his application for relief could be heard. I 
arrived in this city ; Congress was in session — the extra 
session of the spring and summer of 1813. I applied 
to the members of Congress from Tennessee; they 
could do nothing. I applied to the Secretary at War ; 
he did nothing. Weeks had passed away, and the time 
for delay was expiring at Nashville. Ruin seemed to be 
hovering over the head of Jackson, and I felt the 
necessity of some decisive movement. I was young 
then and had some material in me, perhaps some bold- 



38 

ness, and tlie occasion brought it out. I resolved to 
take a step, characterized in the letter which I wrote to 
the General as "an appeal from the justice to the fears 
of the Administration." I remember the words, though 
I have never seen the letter since. I drew up a memoir 
addressed to the Secretary at War, representing to him 
that these volunteers were drawn from the bosoms of 
almost every substantial family in Tennessee ; that the 
whole State stood by Jackson in bringing them home, 
and that the State would be lost to the Administration 
if he was left to suiFer. It was upon this last argument 
that I relied, all those founded in justice having failed. 
It was of a Saturday morning, 12th of June, that I 
carried this memoir to the "War Office and delivered it. 
Monday morning I came back early to learn the result 
of my argument. The Secretary was not yet in. I 
spoke to the chief clerk, (then the afterwards Adjutant 
General Parker,) and inquired if the Secretary had left 
any answer for me before he left the office on Saturday. 
He said no ; but that he had put the memoir in his side- 
pocket — the breast-pocket — and carried it home with 
him, saying he would take it for his Sunday's considera- 
tion. That encouraged me — gave a gleam of hope 
and a feeling of satisfaction. I thought it a good sub- 
ject for his Sunday's meditation. Presently he arrived. 
I stepped in before anybody to his office. He told me 
quickly and kindly that there was much reason in what 
I had said, but that there was no way for him to do it ; 



39 

that Congress would have to give the relief, I an- 
swered him that I thought there was a way for him to 
do it ; it was to give an order to General Wilkinson's 
quartermaster general in the Southern department to 
pay for so much transportation as General Jackson's 
command would have been entitled to if it had returned 
under regular orders. Upon the instant he took up a 
pen, wrote down the very words I had spoken, directed 
a clerk to put them into form ; and the work was done. 
The order went off immediately, and Jackson was 
relieved from imminent impending ruin, and Tennessee 
remained firm to the Administration. 

Thus this case of responsibility was over, but the 
original cause of our concern was still in full force. 
Jackson was again on his farm, unemployed, and the 
fine chance gone which had flattered us so much. But 
the chapter of accidents soon presented another — not 
so brilliant as New Orleans had promised, and after- 
wards realized, but sufiicient for the purpose. The 
massacre at Fort Mimms took place. The banks of 
the Mobile river smoked with fire and blood. Jackson 
called up his volunteers, reinforced by some militia — 
marched to the Creek nation — and there commenced 
that career of victories which soon extorted the com- 
mission which had been so long denied to his merit, 
and which ended in filling the "measure" of his own 
and " his country's glory." And that, Mr. Chairman, 
was the way in which this great man gained the privi- 



40 

lege of using that sword for his country, which, after 
triumphing in many fields which it immortalized, has 
come here to repose in the hands of the representatives 
of a grateful and admiring country. 

The resolution was ordered to be read a third time ; and 
being read a third time, it was unanimously passed. 



Arie^ A^i i'^v 



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